Sports

Woody Paige: Denver Broncos marching to another AFC West title

Peyton Manning threw for more than 300 yards -- again -- against the Saints. (Getty Images)

Oh, when the Broncos, not the Saints, go marching in.

The run game was the endgame for the Broncos on Sunday night in a 34-14 shellacking.

With veteran Willis McGahee and rookie Ronnie Hillman rushing to judgment behind an assertive offensive line, and a dominant defense led by Wesley Woodyard and Champ Bailey stopping the bum's rush from New Orleans, the Broncos didn't force Peyton Manning to do everything, and kept the Saints from doing practically anything.

After the Broncos marched 98 and 93 yards for touchdowns, the Saints must have been asking: "Who that?"

When the Broncos scored in the third quarter for a commanding 31-7 cushion — yes, those Broncos were playing from way ahead for a change in the fourth quarter — they'd had 31 running plays for 153 yards and a 5.0-yard average. The Broncos finished with 225 yards on the ground on 41 runs.

Meanwhile, the Saints — last in the league in rushing even before the game — ended up with a pitiful 51 yards on 17 carries, 3.0 per.

That was a Lawrence Olivier-like award-winning performance for the Broncos. It won't be the Broncos' last appearance on "Sunday Night Football." In the flex schedule, NBC will come calling again later this season.

Drew Brees was reduced to a light breeze. He extended his consecutive touchdown streak, but was as ineffective as the rest of the Saints.

The Broncos went all jambalaya on the Saints.

And John Fox, who loves defense and running more than rib-eye steaks, was ecstatic throughout.

Start with McGahee, who has experienced highs and lows this season. He had a bad drop and a worse fumble against the Patriots. When McGahee lost a fumble against the Saints in the first half, it gave him the dubious streak of 12 straight games as a bobblehead (the first time that's happened in the NFL going back to the season the Broncos won their first Super Bowl).

But McGahee recovered — not the fumble, but his grit — and burst 122 yards on 23 runs, and also caught — not dropped — a couple of passes, one from Manning flipped about a foot and a half through a crowd, for 33 yards. After his touchdown run was overturned, he scored, anyway, right away.

Next man up was Hillman, the young man who was supposed the Broncos' breakaway back this season. He hadn't broken a scamper before Sunday night. But he got a 31-yard pickup and showed why the Broncos traded up to pick him in the third round of the draft. He broke out for 86 yards.

And, lest we forget, the offensive line — with Dan Koppen moving smoothly into center, Chris Kuper moving back into the lineup from injury and Ryan Clady moving everybody out of the way — made the Saints sad sacks.

The Broncos accomplished all those yards without the read-option and Tim Tebow.

Manning was cherishing the running game he had been looking for and forward to. Brees has given up on his running game, and, probably, this season.

Darren Sproles always had been a spike in the Broncos' side with the Chargers as a runner-receiver-returner. He did score a touchdown for the Saints on an impressive reception for 29 yards. But, as a running back, he was outmatched — four rushes for minus-1 yard.

At one point, Bailey had Sproles somersaulting short, and Von Miller was in his Buick grille for a loss on another play.

Woodyard has been a candidate for the Pro Bowl as a special-teams player. This year, the voters will have to consider him as a starting outside linebacker. What he did was make 13 tackles, sack Brees once and intercept a pass when the Saints tried on fourth down.

And the Broncos have rediscovered young cornerback Chris Harris and found Tony Carter in the past two games.

Get this: The Saints were 1-of-12 on third downs. They seemed like the old Aints. The Broncos accumulated 531 yards, and the Saints, supposedly the No. 1 overall offensive team in the NFL, were held to a miserable 252.

For the past six quarters the Broncos' defense has been the best in the NFL. And, like a two-by-four in the head, the Broncos have gotten the league's attention.

The Broncos have outscored opponents 89-6 in the fourth quarter. But, for once, they outscored an opponent 17-7 in the first half, despite the Saints coach saying his team was right where it wanted to be at that point. Who dat?

By the by, the Chargers disintegrated again Sunday, and the Broncos are in control of the AFC West.

The Broncos marched out with their most striking, stirring, sensational home game in years.

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